Vivendi said in July that it would sell most of its stake in Activision, the maker of ‘‘Call of Duty.’’

Associated Press
October 11, 2013

DOVER, Del. — Delaware’s Supreme Court overturned a judge’s ruling that delayed the $8.2 billion sale of Vivendi’s majority stake in Activision Blizzard Inc. back to the video game maker and a group led by chief executive Bobby Kotick and co-chairman Brian Kelly. That clears the way for the deal to proceed by Tuesday’s deadline.

The court decided the deal does not require approval of Activision’s minority shareholders, as a judge had ruled.

Vivendi SA, a French media conglomerate that owns 61 percent of Activision, said in July that it would sell most of its stake in the game company, the maker of ‘‘World of Warcraft’’ and ‘‘Call of Duty.’’

Advertisement

California-based Activision would buy $5.83 billion worth of its shares at $13.60 apiece; the investor group would buy another $2.34 billion worth.

Get Talking Points in your inbox:

An afternoon recap of the day’s most important business news, delivered weekdays.

The deal will leave Vivendi with a 12 percent stake in Activision, and the investor group would control 24.9 percent. The rest of the shares would be traded publicly.

The deal stalled after a lone Activision shareholder sued, arguing minority shareholders should vote on the deal. Activision and Vivendi argued the lower court erred in ruling that the deal fell within the scope of language in Activision’s charter calling for a minority shareholder vote on certain transactions.